Anyone Expecting A Huge Inheritance?

**kork13** · 12-26-2016, 07:40 PM

I do expect that my 2 brothers & I will receive an inheritance of some sort, but I don't know how much it might be. Best guess (truly a shot in the dark) would be a few hundred thousand dollars worth, between my father's investments & the 2 homes he owns. My mother died 4 years ago, and he considered giving us her assets at that time, but decided to hold on to them for now. The complicating factor is the fact that my father remarried last year, so I don't know how his assets & my mother's will be separated from my step-mother's. But my father isn't quite 60 yet, and his family is known for being exceptionally long-lived (my great grandmother lived to be 102, and my still-kickin' grandmother is currently 90-ish), so I hope/expect him to be around for a good many years to come.

With all of that said, any inheritance I may receive is not at all part of my planning. However, I do plan to accumulate enough assets for my children to eventually receive significant inheritances in the (hopefully) distant future, and I am on course to do just that.

But I also don't feel any guilt for the likelihood of receiving an inheritance. I know that my father has been smart with his money, and he's living his life how he chooses to do so. Happily, he does travel multiple times a year & takes opportunities to enjoy himself. And though it was hard to accept, I'm glad he found someone else he could live & be happy with after my mother passed. But even if not (and in the way of advice, Singuy), I don't see it as my place to dictate how he lives his life. He makes his own choices and lives his life according to his own wishes, with which my brothers & I do occasionally disagree (similar to your parents, he can be inexplicably cheap/penny-pinching for no good reason)...but so be it.

**97guns** · 12-26-2016, 07:53 PM

my dad passed in 2013 and i got a sizable 1/3 of his estate. i wasnt looking forward to it or factored it into any of my future planning, i had already been retired for 4 years. i too wish my father had traveled and enjoyed more of it, he had always wanted a 2 seater sports car that never came to fruition but he did buy 4 or 5 new economy cars during his retirement. his frugality helped him to retire early and enjoy life but it could have much more enjoyable. he also wanted to take a trip with my 2 brothers and i to Alaska on a fishing trip but his planning came around 10 years too late to fulfil.

**Nutria** · 12-26-2016, 10:02 PM

My father is doing everything possible to live to 100, and I don't expect to live past 70. Thus, even if I live longer than that, I have no expectation of inheritance.

**creditcardfree** · 12-27-2016, 03:26 AM

I honestly have no idea. My parents are in their mid to late 60s. Very healthy. They have some money, but I have no way of knowing what would end up as an inheritance. They already sold their home and are renting a nice apartment. Anything would be split with my sister at this point, and I'm definitely not counting on it.

**rennigade** · 12-27-2016, 04:38 AM

Yes...from my parents and inlaws.

**disneysteve** · 12-27-2016, 05:00 AM

Assuming my mother stays relatively healthy for the remainder of her life, then yes, I expect to inherit some money when she dies. However, she is 86 and in good health so she could well live to be 100 or more so I may not see an inheritance anytime soon (at least I hope not).

I am also the sole heir of my cousin's estate. He is only 61 but has had some health issues. Hopefully he isn't going anywhere anytime soon either, but whatever assets he holds upon his death will be passed down to me.

So yes, I expect to inherit some money at some point but likely not for 10 or more years.

**scfr** · 12-27-2016, 05:11 AM

No, neither DH nor I expect any inheritance. In fact, the opposite is true. We recently began providing a tiny bit of financial assistance to both of our mothers who are in their mid-70's.

**feh** · 12-27-2016, 05:12 AM

I'm not expecting anything from my one living parent. My wife's parents recently inherited a large amount (I don't know exactly how much) from my wife's grandmother, and they have made comments to the effect of "passing it along to their kids". So, I assume my wife may inherit something from her parents, but I don't know if it would be substantial or not.

We certainly aren't relying on receiving anything. When I run numbers on how we will live off our portfolio, I don't include any inheritance.

As for my child...I do not feel obligated to leave him anything. My obligation is to help him get educated and be able to support himself. That being said, there is a high probability he'll receive a healthy inheritance at some point in time.

**disneysteve** · 12-27-2016, 05:25 AM

Originally posted by feh View Post

We certainly aren't relying on receiving anything.

Same here. I know what my mom has. I have a general idea what my cousin has. But we never know what the future holds. If my mom ends up needing nursing care, her money could be gone in no time. If my cousin's cancer comes back, he could burn through his money quickly. And even if I do inherit from one or both of them, it could be 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, or more before that happens. I'm 52. I've got to plan my retirement based on my own means, not possible inheritance money that may or may not come and I have no way of knowing when.

As for my child...I do not feel obligated to leave him anything. My obligation is to help him get educated and be able to support himself.

I agree with this as well. My wife and I have both made our ways in life on our own, not with inherited money (since our moms are still alive). I expect our daughter to make her own way in life, too. If we leave her money when we die in 50 years, so be it, but she'll be in her 70s then so it probably won't have a big impact on her life.

**Nutria** · 12-27-2016, 07:20 AM

Originally posted by disneysteve View Post

But we never know what the future holds. If my mom ends up needing nursing care, her money could be gone in no time. If my cousin's cancer comes back, he could burn through his money quickly. ... I'm 52. I've got to plan my retirement based on my own means, not possible inheritance money that may or may not come and I have no way of knowing when.

This.

We can't know the future. For all you know, your cousin could decide to leave his estate to a charity or fall in love with his sexy, gold-digging nurse...

**sv2007** · 12-27-2016, 09:01 AM

I'm afraid that my parents will leave us with a decent amount of money; I've flat out told them that I don't want any (but they have their ways of thinking).

This leads me to remember reading something about why white America is doing better than black America; which traces part of the reason to passed-down wealth.

**sv2007** · 12-27-2016, 09:22 AM

Originally posted by Singuy View Post

I'm in the camp of wishing my parents can let go and enjoy themselves more. They still penny pinch for no good apparent reason except for the fact that they fell uncomfortable being wasteful

One thing I do is to buy things for my parents.

For example,

My parents split their year between Taiwan, my place, and my sister's place, and they are very frugal and always fly economy.

I told them (due to my connections) that I can buy very cheap C class tickets. Since they insist on knowing the price and reimbursing me, I quote them a little above discount Y tickets. They enjoy the extra comfort that they'd probably never spend on themselves. Plus they get to brag about how cheap their tickets are.

But they don't like to receive expensive gifts. For example, a while back they wanted to buy a new car, so sister and I offered to pay for it. We told them to buy whatever car that they wanted (based on their initially expressed interest, we believe we can cover anything they wanted). Next thing we know, they bought and paid for the car themselves.

So, one has to get creative in my case. Sounds liek your parents are similar.

**disneysteve** · 12-27-2016, 09:46 AM

Originally posted by sv2007 View Post

I'm afraid that my parents will leave us with a decent amount of money; I've flat out told them that I don't want any

I have no issue with receiving an inheritance. What I do get a bit bothered by is my mom always wanting to give us money now. Her thought is I'm going to get it eventually anyway - why not give it to me now? But my thought is what if she needs that money later? I'd rather she keep it until she dies and then I'll get whatever is left.

**LivingAlmostLarge** · 12-27-2016, 09:57 AM

Probably and probably 7 figures. I can't get them to spend it. Trust me I am frustrated. My in-laws are the cheapest people ever and they will die clutching their money unhappy and wishing they could take it to the grave. Their cheapness will be the death of them.

My parents are frugal. They spend on others and on themselves but really watch their spending when they don't have too. Example my mom has a pension of about $4k/month and still saves a portion of it. I'm not exactly sure why. For life this pension and free medical for life, medicare, and SS. Then my dad has to take RMD and took SS at 70. He's still working at 86 so you can imagine that it's insanity that he gives my mom $2k/month to save from his accounts he needs to draw down on. I am smacking my head on the table arguing with my mom about her saving $6500 each still into a Roth IRA. I don't know how to get them to just spend it. I'd really love to see them do something wild and crazy and spendy with their money. But instead they are still saving because "you know nursing homes are really expensive and just in case!" ARRGH.

My in-laws also have pensions and live like poverty striken misers unlike my parents. My parents live well, they go out to eat, have cable, drive a decent car, and do travel. Just I want them to spend more. But my in-laws cry poverty yet have pensions and free medical (thank you canada). And just sold one of two homes they own outright. Plus my FIL possibly just inherited money from his deceased sibling unexpectedly. Honestly they need to enjoy it or become more miserable.

I hope my DH and I don't end up like that. Going to work hard. Although my DH has made commentary like "oh I need to work longer. If I keep working we'll be able to give the kids a leg up in the future. We have some obligations. So I think he thinks we have to give the kids stuff."

Anyone Expecting A Huge Inheritance?